


I'm A Loser (And I'm Not What I Appear To Be)

by Strawberry_Pennies



Category: The Office (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Bullying, Child Neglect, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Lunch, Nervous Ryan Howard, New Kid Ryan Howard, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Racism, Sexism, Weirdness, because Jim, tags added as the story progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2020-10-11 12:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20545982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strawberry_Pennies/pseuds/Strawberry_Pennies
Summary: He was the new kid, and worse yet, the new kid who came in the middle of the school year. Fantastic. He hadn’t even known he was moving at the end of the summer, hadn’t had the chance to tell anyone either. He’d been excitedly chatting about the high school years to come with  his friends till the last day of summer, making plans well into August. And then out of the blue, his mother had casually mentioned at dinnertime three months later, that they were moving. And not just a few cities or states away, but to fucking Pennsylvania. A state on the other side of the fucking country . Not only that, but they’d put the house up for sale in February . The moving trucks were coming in a little more than a week. Sure his parents acted like he didn’t exist half the time, but to leave him out of a decision like that, not letting him know until months later? That was fucked up. Before he knew it, he was sent to the airport to fly to Hershey, PA because of course Scranton didn’t even have an airport.ORA High School The Office AU





	1. First Day

_ October 19, 2017 - Ryan _

Ryan didn’t quite know what to think. He’d never been in this position before. He supposed he felt a bit of fear, who wouldn’t? “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest, strongest fear is fear of the unknown” H.P. Lovecraft had once said. One of the most acclaimed horror writers in history surely knew what they were talking about. Ryan certainly felt scared, he didn’t know what to expect when he would walk through the double doors before him.

He was the new kid, and worse yet, the new kid who came in the middle of the school year. Fantastic. He hadn’t even known he was moving at the end of the summer, hadn’t had the chance to tell anyone either. He’d been excitedly chatting about the high school years to come with his friends till the last day of summer, making plans well into August. And then out of the blue, his mother had casually mentioned at dinnertime three months later, that they were moving. And not just a few cities or states away, but to fucking  _ Pennsylvania.  _ A state on the other side of the fucking  _ country _ . Not only that, but they’d put the house up for sale in  _ February _ . The moving trucks were coming in a little more than a week. Sure his parents acted like he didn’t exist half the time, but to leave him out of a decision like that, not letting him know until  _ months  _ later? That was fucked up. Before he knew it, he was sent to the airport to fly to Hershey, PA because of course Scranton didn’t even have an airport. He’d hated the city from the first day he set foot in it. And not just because he had to uber all the way there, or because when he asked his parents for their address once arriving, they said the owners had it for another two days and he’d have to find somewhere to stay, and not because he ran out of money the second day; it was because of everything else. Pennsylvania was nothing like California and Scranton was the polar-opposite of San Diego. It was cold in here, he was always cold, even though it was the summer and he had sweaters on. The sun never seemed to shine. Then there were the people. He’d run into a boy, his age give or take, said “Hi” and the dude just stared at him, wide eyed, before running away like his life depended on it. Another person he passed on the streets, an elderly man, was muttering to himself about the Taliban and their heroin. He had many questions. Then of course there was the town itself, it was so  _ dull _ . There was nothing to do, the best thing around was a bowling alley. 

All there seemed to be in Scranton were bars, houses, bowling alleys and stray cats.

The school didn’t look too great either. It was tiny, the only high school in Scranton. He guessed that maybe 100 people attended the school max. He doubted there were any after school activities, honor programs or accelerated classes. Ryan had an entire outline for his school plan, he wanted to get as many college classes out of the way in high school as possible. He doubted that was even an option, fuck Pennsylvania. 

Sighing, he started up the stairs to the building. Yet another thing he didn’t like about Scranton was that you could walk everywhere, which meant he had to. His father only begrudgingly gave him a ride to school back in San Diego (the nearest bus stop was too far for Ryan to walk to, and Scranton didn’t even have buses). Ryan had packed his meager supplies (the high school hadn’t asked for much) and walked three miles to school. He was going to die if he had to get up when did every morning for the rest of the year. He was  _ not  _ a morning person.

Pushing the doors open to the front office, Ryan wasn’t impressed. It was tiny, ugly and smelly, quite the contrast to San Diego High School’s spacy, comfortable and fresh setup. The thermostat was also cranked to a ridiculously high number and just entering the building made him sweat, hadn’t it been cold just a minute ago? Unsure of what to do, he walked to the front desk, it was small, with only two seats and one was empty. The lone woman sitting there was staring at her computer, just staring at it, not doing anything, her pupils didn’t even move. It would’ve unnerved the freshman more if she wasn’t methodically (and obnoxiously) chewing gum. She didn’t look up as he approached. He waited a few seconds, when she still didn’t note his figure he cleared his throat. Still nothing. He felt more than a bit awkward. Finally, he began to speak,”Um-”

“Wait just a minute, buster.” the woman cut him off rudely, not moving her eyes from the screen,”No matter what you high school kids think, you ain’t the center of the world.” 

Ryan was taken aback at her words, all he’d done was walk up to the desk. It didn’t register until a few seconds later that the woman had talked in a very heavy, distinct New York accent. Huh. 

The woman turned from the screen at last and focused in on him, her eyebrows raised slightly,”Well would ya look at that… boy you look fine, you’ll be a real heartbreaker in a few years.” 

Ryan didn’t know what to say so just spluttered,”Um… okay.” 

“So what brings you here kid?” The woman asked, now in Ryan’s full view, he could see a nameplate she’d been blocking, it read ‘Mrs. Reilde’,”You ain’t local, that’s for sure.”

“Er, yes.” Ryan said, still tripping over his words (what was wrong with him today?),”I’m new, my name’s Ryan Howard… just moved. I should be registered…?” 

“Haven’t had a new kid in years… I dunno what to do with ya.” Reilde thought aloud, turning back to her computer screen and making a few clicks,”I guess I’ll just give ya your schedule. Has room numbers and everything on it so you should be able to find your way around.”

“Okay.” Ryan said, not sure what else to say.

There was a sudden loud, almost growling noise, he jumped. The woman laughed,”Don’t startle, Howard. It’s just the printer, I know it sounds like a hellhound. That’s probably because it was manufactured in the 90s.”

“Oh.” he muttered before taking a step towards the device.

Waiting a few seconds, finally the spent printer vomited out his schedule. Ryan frowned at the paper as he took it from the tray. The sheet didn’t look great, there were random lines of black and white on the sheet that made the schedule hard to read. His frown deepened when he read the contents of the sheet:

_ Name: Ryan Howard Student ID: #2488942 Grade: 09 _

_ Homeroom (7:55-8:25) | Room 242 | Mr. D. Vickers  _

_ Period 1 (8:30-9:35) | Room 241 | English | Mr. D. Wallace _

_ Period 2 (9:40-10:45) | Room 282 | Health/Gym | J. DiCanio  _ __   
_ Period 3 (10:50-11:55) | Room 225 | Algebra I | Mr. C. Miner _ _   
_ __ Lunch (12:00-12:30) | 4th period room | 4th period teacher 

_ Period 4 (12:35-1:40) | Room 193 | Biology | H. Hasagawa _

_ Period 5 (1:45-2:50) | Room 259 | Home Economics | H. Tate _

_ Period 6 (2:55-4:00) | Room 241 | US History | Mr. D. Wallace _

_ Principal: Jo Bennett _

_ Vice Principal: David Brent _

“Um excuse me.” He said after glancing over the sheet,”I don’t know if my credits didn’t transfer, but I’ve already taken and passed Algebra 1, US History and Biology.”

“You’re in 9th grade ain’t ya?” Reilde asked.

  
“Well yes, but I took the classes-”

“If you’re in 9th grade, ya get a 9th grade schedule.” the office lady said, her eyes hard. 

“But-”

“Why don’t you mosey along to class, Howard?”

Ryan sighed, defeated,”Okay. Thank you ma’am.”

He checked the time before leaving, 8:08, he still had time to get to homeroom. The numbers by the classrooms weren’t systematic, or even made sense. One room labelled 102 moved straight to 317, and on the other side of it was 299. Across from it was room 123. It was a confusing layout. Ryan only managed to find Room 242 out of sheer luck, the school was small enough that he could walk through the hallways in less than 8 minutes. On minute 3 he found the room. He felt his nerves come back at full throttle.

What was he supposed to do, just walk in? He bit his lip. He decided to wait for the teacher, Mr. Vickers, to finish whatever he was saying. In seconds, the curly haired man completed his speech, yet Ryan still couldn’t find it in himself to walk in. It seemed another boy noticed him though, a dark brown haired boy with green eyes, sitting in the front of the classroom noticed him. He said something and then pointed at the door, a grin on his face. The teacher frowned and turned his head and upon seeing Ryan, made a “come in” gesture.

Nervously, he pushed the door. Close to thirty people stared at him, unnerved, he scratched the back of his neck, feeling uncomfortable. 

“And who might you be, young man?” the teacher - Mr. Vickers asked. 

Ryan bit the inside of his lip, it seemed nobody had been expecting him. Fantastic,”Uh Ryan.” he said, trying to push his nerves away,”Ryan Howard. I’m in your homeroom.”

“Oh?” Vickers asked, a suspicious look in his eye,”Then why haven’t I seen you before?”

“I’m new…?” Ryan said unsurely.

“You don’t seem very sure of that to me.” the teacher said, giving him a look. The thirty-some freshmen’s gazes were really starting to make Ryan fidget.

“How do I know” the curly haired man continued,”that you aren’t one of those psychotic kids from down at the middle school?”

“I’m in 9th grade.” Ryan said, feeling defensive.

“You don’t look it.”

  
“Wha… I am! I’m sure the transfer papers are somewhere.” Ryan said, feeling self-conscious. He knew he was short for his age but did he really look that young?

“I haven’t heard anything about any new students.” Vickers said, unrelenting. What the hell was wrong with the people in this town?

“Mr. Vickers I’m sure-” An Indian girl began from the front of the classroom.

“Not now, Kelly.” The teacher said dismissively. 

The girl, Kelly, looked outraged but didn’t say anymore, instead choosing to chatter indignantly with her uninvested neighbor.

“Come back when you have proof.” the man said dismissively.

“I have a time table-”

“Faked.”

Frustrated, Ryan sighed,”Can’t you just call the office and ask?”

“You really want me to do that?” Vickers asked intimidatingly. 

“Yes.” Ryan said firmly.

The teacher narrowed his eyes but walked over to his desk phone. While Ryan waited for it to ring he shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, doubt starting to consume him. What if dad hadn’t filed the paperwork like he said? Maybe that was why nobody knew he was here… 

“Hello, this is Vickers. I’m calling to ask about a boy named ‘Ryan Howard’. Is he enrolled?”

Ryan held his breath as the teacher listened to Reilde on the other end,”I see.” the curly-haired man said before slowly putting the phone back down. His expression wasn’t readable. 

“Welcome to class, young man.” He finally said slowly. 

Ryan sighed in relief before choosing to take the empty seat next to the girl (Kelly?) who had defended him. She smiled at him as he walked over and he gave a hesitant smile back. It was then that he realized how pretty she looked. 

“I’m Kelly.” she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear,”Kelly Kapoor.”

“Uh… Ryan.” he said feeling dumb,”Ryan Howard.”


	2. Friendships

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kelly's POV as she tries to connect with the new boy.

_ October 19, 2017 _

Kelly really didn’t have any interest in school. She didn’t like it at all, it was  _ boring _ . It was surprisingly impossible even to find any interesting drama. Of course Michael always made somebody or another uncomfortable with his…. Michaelness; but after dealing with him since grade school, most people had gotten used to his antics.

Honestly sometimes she’d rather be at home with her stuck up parents and stupid sisters because anything was better than sitting at a desk for eight hours a day, with nothing to do but listen to monotone lectures about principles of blah blah blah. Really the only joy she got out of school was at lunch time when she was free to flirt with Danny Cordray and make fun of the latest thing Dwight had said. 

But then, midway through homeroom, the door to the classroom had opened and a boy - a very cute boy had come in, looking all sheepish and shy and adorable. But then Mr. Vickers had started his interrogation and come on, really? I mean a middle schooler had come in  _ once,  _ besides the raven haired boy before her was  _ far  _ too handsome to be in 8th grade. So she tried to stand up for him but of course, Vickers dismissed her carelessly and would he have done the same if Jim tried to intervene? Her blood boiled. 

“Sexist bastard.” she hissed at Meredith. She started ranting but stopped eventually because Meredith was obviously tuning her out. Kelly huffed at that, the redhead looked like she was checking out Devon (seriously though, Devon?) so she refocused on the conversation in front of her. Vickers had the classroom folder at his ear, an unreadable expression on his face.   
  
“I see.” the curly haired man said, putting the phone down before turning to the new boy,”Welcome to class, young man.”

The boy looked relieved, taking a seat next to Kelly, she smiled at him. He was obviously nervous, but he had dealt with Vickers surprisingly well. 

“I’m Kelly.” she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear flirtatiously.

“Uh… Ryan.” he said dumbly in that way boys always do,”Ryan Howard.”

“Nice to meet you Ryan.” she said.

“Ya, nice to meet you to.” he said, giving her a nervous smile. 

The bell rang before the conversation could go any further, but Kelly talked about the “New Boy” all throughout first, second and third period. It was a popular topic at lunch too. Ryan was the most interesting thing that had happened at the school since Michael had showed up as Janet Jackson’s boob last Halloween. 

* * *

  
  


At first it seemed they didn’t share a lunch because Kelly didn’t see him. But then she did, he came through the cafeteria doors with Mr. Hasagawa’s hand on his shoulder, guiding him in fifteen minutes since the start of lunch. She frowned, not sure what to make of it.

She waved her hand though, trying to get Ryan’s attention, he didn’t notice her; preoccupied instead by the irritated looking teacher. Mr. H. walked him to the nearest table, pointed at the chair and turned on his heel to walk away. It was a curious exchange and many in the cafeteria were watching him without shame (Kelly included).

Ryan, looking very uncomfortable, pulled out a pretty generic looking lunch box and started eating a sandwich. He bent his head to look down so people couldn’t see his face. Kelly felt some pity well up inside her. She’d seen enough teen dramas to know how hard it was to be the new kid. She got to her feet (much to the bemusement of her friends) and walked over to the boy before tapping him on the shoulder. Ryan jumped violently in his seat. He turned to face her, wide-eyed and mouth full of food. She resisted the urge to laugh and chose not to comment on the startle.

“Hi Ryan.” she said sweetly,”Do you want to sit with me and my friends?” she made a gesture towards her table. 

Ryan looked at the group, still looking a bit surprised,”I… sure.” he eventually stammered. 

Without further comment, Kelly turned on her feel and walked confidently back to her table.

New Boy had that dumb look on his face again. After sitting down, she turned to look at him and seeing that he hadn’t moved, beckoned him over. It seemed like the magic gesture. He scrambled to grab his lunch, books and satchel and looked very flustered once reaching the table. The raven haired boy plopped down next to Kelly seemingly unaware of the movement (which pushed an offended Charlotte a few inches away as he had squeezed between her and Kelly). He looked drained from the short walk he’d made through the cafeteria and his face was pale. She hoped he’d get less… well... cringeworthy soon, because looks could only do so much. The whole anxiety filled, panicky, nervous kid shtick didn’t really interest Kelly. It’d be a shame to waste such good looks on a kid who couldn’t speak without stuttering. It’d also be a waste of her time and she’d look stupid going back now, especially after inviting him to sit at her table in public. 

Kelly decided it was too late to turn back now so threw herself into the always-awkward introductions that tended to happen in these situations,”I guess I’ll introduce you to everyone.” she said.

“This is Charlotte.” she gestured towards the miffed looking blonde beside Ryan and the boy gave a tentative wave, Charlotte in turn gave a rather miffed expression before haughtily turning to her nails (which were by the way the ugliest shade of purple Kelly had ever seen). 

“This is Katy-” she began again before she was rudely interrupted by a familiar obnoxious voice shouting,”WHAZZZZZZZZZZUP?”

Ryan startled again, turning to see where the sound was coming from, while Kelly and the rest of the group rolled their eyes, not having to look up to know what was going on. It was simple, just one word: Michael. And when there was Michael there was usually-

“WHAZZZZZZZZZZUP?” answered another voice from the dark haired Michael, this time a bespeckled fair haired boy with a large forehead and small nose. Dwight. 

The terrible two were just a few feet away from them and grinning from ear to ear as they closed in on the group. Maddie groaned and physically knocked her head against the table (idiot, the bruise tomorrow would need a lot of foundation). 

“Michael Scott.” Michael said, looking at Ryan with a curious expression on his face, his right hand extended forward.

“Uh… Ryan. Ryan Howard.” Ryan said dumbly again, shaking the teen’s hand with a bemused expression. 

Dwight broke in right afterwards and also offered his hand,”Dwight Kurt Schrute at your service.”

Ryan clasped his hand around the fair haired boy’s hand but before he could shake it he pulled back with a shocked expression as Dwight started laughing. The new boy looked very alert now. Kelly frowned, left out of the loop before Dwight explained,”Electric shocker, we used them on our bulls. They’re very effective.”

“Used? As in past tense?” Katy asked sounding wary.

At the same time Ryan asked looking worried,”Aren’t those against the rules to have?”

Dwight answered “No” quickly right before Kelly said “Yes”. She rolled her eyes at his behavior,”Either way it doesn’t matter, he brings in stuff against the school rules all the time. The stuff rarely gets confiscated though. Last time it did was last spring when he brought in that foot long knife, I cannot believe you had that in your boot.” directing the last part of the sentence at the bespeckled boy. 

Ryan looked slightly alarmed as Dwight huffed. 

Michael, looking annoyed at not being in the spotlight, quickly stole it back as he tried again to converse with Ryan,”So Howard, like Moe Howard from the Three Stooges? Watch this, this is Moe.”

Michael cleared his throat and Kelly would’ve put her head in her hands if it wouldn’t have been for the chance of her lipstick smearing. Michael and his impressions were kinda horrible. And very offensive at that. 

“Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck, nyuck, nyuck, meeeeeh-”

  
  
“Can you do that somewhere else?” Meredith asked, hung over from another late night of partying (yes, on a Tuesday). Also when the hell did she manage to smuggle her way to their table?

Michael looked offended,”No, Meredith, I cannot do this somewhere else. Besides, Ryan likes it. Right Ryan?”

The dark haired boy looked uncomfortable as two sets of eyes looked at him expectantly. Before he had to answer though, the lunch bell rang and he got up from his seat before Kelly could even open her mouth. He tripped again on his own feet as he hurried away and into the crowd of students exiting the cafeteria. She sighed. Of course Ryan was going to be difficult. Also, wasn’t it the girl who was supposed to play hard to get?


	3. Worrying Signs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwight makes a few discoveries

_ November 1, 2017 _

Dwight’s daily routine was just that - a strict, constant, regular routine. Every morning he’d be woken up by the by his aunt Becca around four in the morning along with with his cousin, Mose (who he shared a room with), courtesy of two pots being clanged together unnecessarily close to his ears. After getting up, Dwight and Mose - along with Mose’s older brother, Zeke and another cousin, Johann, would go out to the barn and begin a series of long, painful chores. About fifteen minutes through, Dwight’s youngest sibling, his brother Jeb would show up, always dragged by the ear by the purple-faced, huffing and puffing Abner Schrute. Abner, Dwight’s only cousin from his Uncle Honk, was a very lazy, very hot-headed older boy. He was twenty-three and hadn’t had a job in his life, all he did day in and day out was complain about the family while eating them out of house and home. He would rant and rant about Jeb running off to hide so he wouldn’t do his own chores instead talking about how much work it had been to track down and scold naughty Jeb Schrute. 

Dwight felt a twinge of sympathy for his brother but quickly squashed it down. Jeb was always shirking his jobs after all, he was eight, fully capable of doing what was laid out for him. Dwight had killed his first chicken when he was four years old, yet here Jeb was - double his age, having so much trouble with it. They were just animals. 

Dwight snorted as Abner left the barn, chubby hands wiping the sweat from his brow, like his great speech had exhausted him. He probably wouldn’t be doing anything today besides waddling into the living room and watching soap operas all day while eating Fannie’s Halloween candy. The bespeckled boy focused once again on the goat in front of him, ignoring a sour looking Jeb as he dragged his feet towards the chicken coop. 

It was about 5:15 and Dwight heard the clanging of pots again - Aunt Becca was waking up the girls. He sighed at that, rolling his eyes, why didn’t Fannie and Helga have to get up at four in the morning and labour until 6:40? It was just because they were girls, he remembered what his father had said to him a few days ago. He’d just slapped Dwight’s mother, Hetta and she had run off crying, leaving an unfazed looking Dwight Sr. with his disgusted name stake,”Women.” Dwight Sr. had said, a bored tone to his voice,”They can’t handle anything. Wouldn’t know what to do with themselves if us men didn’t tell them. They’d just run around in circles like fucking cows.”

Dwight had just nodded. He didn’t dare say something to oppose the man. 

He consciously took his mind off of Fannie and Helga after his head went there. They had their own problems, he supposed. They just weren’t as straightforward as the lads’ were. 

* * *

Dwight arrived at school early. He liked to be early, the school felt very mellow before all the high-schoolers trickled in. It was a small campus for a small populous but it could still be overwhelming when every kid over 14 in Scranton showed up. 

Dwight decided to start a search for his friend, Michael. Usually, his step-father would drop him off around the same time Dwight arrived but Michael hadn’t been in their usual meeting spot. So he began his hunt, starting with the office. When that venture proved unsuccessful, he tried the boy’s bathroom, Michael might be practicing pick-up-lines again. However, right before opening the door to the bathroom, he stopped, hearing an odd noise coming from the other side of the wood. Cautiously, he pressed his ear against the surface, ignoring the odd looks he got from students in passing. 

Dwight worried upon hearing the sound, it was suspiciously similar to that of a certain kind of rattlesnake his Grandma Shickgruber had taught him to identify in his youth. He creaked the door open a few inches, quietly and slowly, hoping to get a better visual on the possible threat. He was frustrated to see no snake. Yet the sound, a choking gut-throat sort of noise, persisted. Then Dwight’s eyes traveled upwards and he was surprised to see a faintly familiar individual, leaned over the sinks, head in trembling hands. Dwight realized the sound was coming from the individual - Ryan, he believed was his name (Michael had been talking about the new boy all throughout lunch). He was crying. Dwight was unsure of what to do, Michael’s whereabouts had disappeared almost completely from his thoughts. Still thinking up a course of action, he realized the raven haired boy had taken his head from his hands and was beginning to splash water on his red face. He was getting ready to leave. So Dwight, staying quiet, slipped away, a troubled feeling arising in him. 

* * *

  
  


Dwight next saw the boy in 3rd Period - Algebra. Michael was next to him, having arrived late due to a fight with his mother. The conflict seemed mostly forgotten about my Michael though, as he seemed more interested in the new boy. Dwight hadn’t told him about what he’d seen. He didn’t feel comfortable sharing that, it felt like he shouldn’t have seen it and shouldn’t be spreading gossip about it either. 

“Where do you think he’s from?” Michael asked loudly - the boy had yet to grace their presence. 

“Some city” Dwight said, thinking back to what he’d seen of the boy so far,”Kelly said he’s from somewhere in California I think.”

“Las Vegas?” Michael asked.

“I don’t think that’s in California.”

“It is.”

  
“I really…” Dwight let himself trail off, there was no point in arguing with Michael about these things. He’d learned that through many a trial and error.

New boy came in just shy of the bell. His head was ducked down and he took the desk farthest from the front of the room. Mr. Miner strode in a few seconds later, just as Michael was getting ready to try and drag the raven haired boy to their row of desks. 

Dwight was honestly relieved, he was starting to find Michael’s obsessing annoying. He supposed he didn’t like his position as Michael’s right hand man jeopardized. 

As Mr. Miner began his usual drawl, starting to write algebraic expressions on the board - Dwight couldn’t help but glance at Ryan every now and then. The boy’s head stayed down, though he took notes. He was huddled in on himself. The events of the morning kept replaying in Dwight’s head. Michael was worse though, honestly with the way he was looking at Ryan, Dwight was beginning to wonder about his sexual orientation.

For once, Dwight’s finely tuned ability to focus, failed him. Again and again, the quiet crying came to him when he was in the middle of solving an equation. He grew frustrated with himself and stabbed his pencil against the wood of his desk. He sighed when the lead came out and made a trip to the pencil sharpener at the back of the room. 

New boy was sitting back there, still looking perfectly miserable. He seemed to be finished with his work though, something that impressed Dwight to an extent. He started to sharpen his pencil when something caught his eye. Something on the raven haired boys face. A black eye. Not only a black eye but also a split lip. New boy didn’t acknowledge Dwight’s presence, seeming to be engrossed in a book he was reading on business. 

Dwight bit his lip, unsure of what to think in relation to the new revelation. Even more distracted and uneasy, he returned to his desk. Realizing only after five minutes and staring at his paper, that he’d forgotten to sharpen his pencil.


	4. Roy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kelly thinks about Ryan, Pam gets a boyfriend.

_ November 4, 2017 - Kelly _

It turned out Kelly only shared one class with Ryan. It kinda sucked. When you want to become somebody’s friend usually the more time with them the better. It didn’t help that he seemed scared of her. Everytime she came up to him he jumped three feet into the air. Progress was slow, and Kelly more often than not, wanted to throw her hands in the air, and give up. But she was patient. You didn’t get anywhere on the social ladder if you couldn’t sit and wait. She just hoped he was worth it. Looks weren’t everything after all - just about eighty percent. 

Something about Ryan, something… intriguing, kept drawing her back. He was mysterious, and smart, and gave off a sort of bad boy vibe. She’d been putting an ear on gossip involving the teen, and was satisfied with what she heard. Hot, check (but she’d already figured that one out herself), smart, check (Macy was in his math class, and said he was always done before everyone else), mysterious, check (he just gave off that vibe), and bad boy… probably check. 

Ryan had shown up on Monday with a black eye and split lip, which probably meant he didn’t shy away from fighting. She wondered how bad the other guy looked. Nobody else at Dunder Mifflin High had bruises, cuts, scrapes, or any indicators of a fight. She hadn’t heard any gossip either, and she knew for a fact, if there had been a fight at the school, word would get around. So she started thinking, his opponent was outside of DMH. What if he was in a gang? That would be _ hot _. Still though, Scranton was far too tame for that. Kelly still kept the possibility in the back of her head though, couldn’t a girl dream? She thought about Ryan in leather, on a motorbike, saving her from a group of thugs, grabbing her and throwing her onto the motorbike. Then they’d ride off into the sunset, leaving the rest of Scranton behind…

She shook herself from the fantasy, and instead focused on Katy, who was saying something genuinely interesting about a secret relationship between Dwight and Angela. She scoffed at her friend, please. She knew when something was fake news, and Dwight and Angela were definitely that.

* * *

_ November 13, 2017 - Jim _

Jim couldn’t help it, he laughed.

“Stop it!” Pam said, though despite herself, a smile crept across her face,”Seriously though, what do you think?”

Jim let his chuckles die down, and took a second look. Pam had recently made the school’s art team (don’t ask him what that is), to nobody’s surprise but her own. She’d been hard at work for the team’s first project of the year - a sculpture made of wax, wood, marble, or clay. They’d been given a prompt, and Pam’s take on it was rather amusing. She was supposed to “capture a sense of innocence” (and she wondered why he kept saying no to joining. Well, that and his abysmal skills and sheer laziness…). She’d sculpted Snow White, as in the Disney princess, and he’d had no idea until she’d shown it to him. She’d made him promise not to laugh, but upon seeing it, he couldn’t help himself, his mind transporting him to memories of his childhood. One memory in particular came into mind, involving his older brother, Tom, and kissing… 

He shook himself out of the memories, pushing down another chuckle. He gave Pam a genuine smile,”It’s nice.”

“Is it really?” the girl asked, looking anxious. She always got nervous about these things, feeling like she had to prove herself to the masses. The smallest sign of disapproval could hurt her incredibly, so Jim made sure his face portrayed complete authenticity. 

“Of course it is, Pam. _ You _made it, what do you expect. She looks better than she did in the films.”

“Are you sure it isn’t too… you know… childish?” she asked uncertainly.

“That’s part of the beauty of it,” Jim said.

Finally, she seemed reassured.

“I’m sorry… you know how I get.” she started.

“Pam, it’s fine. Now, do you want to hear about the ‘accident’ that happened with Dwight in math today?”

His friend grinned, and nodded enthusiastically. Her eyes shone brightly, and Jim found himself forgetting what he’d said, and what she was responding to. All he could look at was her. She was so _ beautiful _. Her twinkling, sapphire green eyes giggled at him, laughing conspiratorially like he and they shared a risible secret. Her mouth however, was moving from its perked position, and twisted into a frown. Her eyes lost their mirth, and filled with concern. A brief flash of sadness filled him at the loss of her expression, but more pressing was the way her face now had morphed into confusion and worry. It should never look like that.

“Jim?”

He opened his mouth to say something, but before any words could come out, he was interrupted. A familiar figure had strolled his merry way over to him. Instantly, upon seeing him, the expression on Pam’s face, melted away. 

“Roy!”

All thoughts about Jim seemed to have vanished, instead, the redhead got to her feet and held her arms out in welcome invitation, to a familiar football player. Roy Anderson, the boy Pam had been complaining about for months on end. He’d been getting an earful about Roy this, Roy that, since she’d been paired up with him in science in September. What was with the sudden warmth she was obviously feeling for the boy? He started feeling a mixture of protectiveness and jealousy rise in him, almost like how he felt when his younger sister, Larissa, was threatened. However, it was different in a way he couldn’t put his finger on. He frowned, pushing the new feeling back for later pondering. 

Roy embraced Pam, and lifted her into the air. She squealed, and Jim found himself jumping to his feet, ready to defend her. The expression on her face however, remained joyous. Pam still hadn’t noticed him. Instead, Roy dropped her and put his forehead against hers. A clanging and crashing rang in his ears. His brain hurt. An onslaught of _ What the hell? _’s flow their way through his mind. This was not the behavior he’d expected from Pam when she’d gone off about “that” Roy Anderson. 

Finally (_ finally _), Pam pulled her forehead away from Roy’s and faced Jim again. His eyes fell on the football player’s hand, which was looped around her waist. He felt the protectiveness grow. A clearing of the throat made him rip his eyes away. He faced a blushing Pam, and a frowning Roy. The other boy was giving him a look, it was almost menacing.

Pam started speaking in that fast, sort of breathy way she did when she was nervous, “Jim, this is Roy. We… uh…” her cheeks grew redder still, “We’re dating.”

It clicked. Some mix of anger, jealousy, protectiveness, and _ hurt _ embroiled him, and he found himself unable to speak. He bit harder on his tongue. He found himself wondering why Pam was spending her time with him. She’d been complaining for ages, and from what Jim could gather - the guy was a pompous idiot. He was actually a year older than them, but hadn’t passed last year. The principal had threatened to keep him out of athletics, but ultimately hadn’t gone through with it since Roy was the best on the team. And that wasn’t saying much, this was Scranton, after all. 

“Jim?” 

  
He realized he’d been quiet for too long. He cleared his throat and somehow managed to talk. He plastered a fake smile on his face and extended his hand towards Roy, “Good to meet you.” he said (it most definitely was not). Roy didn’t take the hand, eyeing it with that arrogant “can you believe this?” look only pieces of shit had. Jim let his hand fall, the smile slipping from his face. Pam looked worriedly from one boy to another. He felt guilty, but didn’t put on the fake smile again. He’d given Roy his chance. 

* * *

Later in the day, Jim still felt Pam’s news weighing heavily on him. It just hurt for a reason he couldn’t explain. It hurt deep. Almost like betrayal, but he couldn’t say why. 

Trying to distract himself from the confusing internal flurry of feelings, Jim tried to focus on the biology teacher - Mr. Hasagawa (after three months he still wasn’t saying that right). It took all of ten seconds for him to lose interest. He’d always had a problem with paying attention. School was just so boring. There was so many other, more interesting things to do. He could play pranks for instance, or talk with Pam (usually the highlight of his day). Unfortunately he couldn’t do the latter, especially with all the emotions in his chest. Instead, he focused on the back of Dwight’s head, quietly plotting. 

* * *

The prank worked marvelously. Jim was eternally grateful that somebody had forgotten their art classes paints under his desk. Dwight had gotten up to use the bathroom and when Mr. Hasagawa was facing the chalkboard, he’d squirted some of the blue on his seat. Sometimes the simplest pranks were the best. The whole class had erupted in laughter when Dwight had sat down on the paint, and jumped right back up, blue paint all over the back of his pants. Furiously, the bespeckled boy had pointed at Jim and demanded Mr. H gave him detention. The tired teacher hadn’t been able to deal with Dwight, and massaging his temples, had told him to clean himself off and come back to class when he was done. No punishment was doled out, and Jim felt happy again. Later, after Dwight had stormed back in, a faded blue spot still prominent on his beige pants, the class had been instructed to find partners. 

Much to his surprise, one of Kelly’s friends came up to Jim. Usually, the girl (he wasn’t quite sure of her name, though he believed it also started with a K) was paired up with Kelly. Today though, the black-haired girl had captured Oscar Martinez’s poor soul. Oscar always seemed to be at the scene of some big dramatic incident, and Kelly was likely trying to get gossip out of him. Either that, or she was failing science badly enough that she needed a competent lab partner to do the work and get her an A. 

The girl flashed him a smile, not at all shy (he liked that), “Hey.”

“Hey.” he replied.

The girl smiled again, “Do you want to work together?”

“Sure.”

He was hit, looking into her sparkling eyes, how pretty she was. Of course, it was nothing like Pam’s beauty, but she was cute nonetheless. He almost felt a skip in his chest when, still smiling, she grabbed him by the hand, and pulled him to the nearest lab station. 

She surprised him by using his name, “So, Jim, how do you want to start this?”

He felt himself sweating at not knowing her name.


	5. Thor: Ragnarok

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan has another tough day. Kelly spends time with him.

_ November 17, 2017 - Ryan (Tuesday) _

It was a Tuesday when Ryan Howard decided that life was literal hell. He didn’t know what he’d done during his life on Earth, but it must’ve been pretty bad to warrant this. He hissed as he stumbled over a crack on the sidewalk, irritating his already unhappy ribs. The pain is enough that black swims in his vision, and he has to stop for a moment to let it pass. He tentatively placed a hand on his shirt over the ribs, probing again to see if he could determine whether they were broken or bruised. He hissed at the tenderness of the offending area and had to leave the ribs alone before he could come to a conclusive answer. He’d wrapped his ribs to be safe earlier that morning, but wasn’t sure of the state of them. He was really hoping they were bruised, as he didn’t know what he would do otherwise. In San Diego, he’d been able to go to different urgent care’s so as not to let anyone become suspect of what was going on, often using fake ID’s provided by some older friends so as not to attract the attention of CPS. There wasn’t the same level of anonymity in Scranton, and he didn’t have people in his corner to drive him to a hospital. He also knew, even from being here just a month, that gossip spread like crazy in this town. Hungry gossipers such as Kelly would do anything for a scrap of scandal. With his situation, he’d probably not made the wisest choice in terms of friends, especially with how interested Kelly had been of his black eye as it healed throughout the past two weeks. Teachers had also been interested, and there’d been some calls home. Hence the current situation.

He made a mental note to try and swipe some money from his moms’ wallet to buy some concealer so as to avoid this happening again. Again the dilemma of anonymity came to him, what was he going to say it was for? A present for his mom maybe? Why would he just buy concealer for that though… He pushed those thoughts away for later consideration however, and focused on the high school building coming into sight. Walking here had been a painful experience, and took longer than expected, so he groaned when he heard the ring of the bell. He was going to be late to homeroom. 

He picked up the pace as much as he could without jostling his ribs, but it wasn’t fast enough for an unfamiliar teacher who saw him, narrowed their eyes and barked at him to stop gallivanting. He’d picked up the pace after that, but ended up having to wait outside Mr. Vickers’ classroom for almost 5 minutes to get his unsteady breathing and vision under control. Finally feeling prepared enough to walk inside, he sheepishly poked his head in before moving into the classroom entirely. Mr. Vickers saw him immediately and sarcastically drawled, “Nice of you to join us Mr. Howard”. He was promptly awarded detention.

He tried to keep his expression under control, but felt his face flush red with embarrassment as the teacher berated him in front of the class. Kelly and a few others sent him sympathetic looks which was almost worse than those who looked amused. Finally, Mr. Vickers seemed content with his chewing out, and turned away, the sign for Ryan to be able to sit down.

Ryan didn’t know what it was, but the teacher had had a vendetta against him since the first day he’d stepped into the classroom, and it  _ really _ sucked. The detentions he was being dished out were not going to look good on his college applications, and his dad was  _ really _ not happy about all of the “trouble” he was being. The constant ranting he was subject to wasn’t great for his anxiety either, which skyrocketed and liked to manifest in panic attacks he had to silently control. His mind also liked to confuse Mr. Vickers with his dad, which wasn’t at all conducive to his learning. The anxiety attack silently wreaking havoc on him made Ryan dig his fingers into his arms in an effort to ground himself and distract from the pain of his ribs (made substantially worse by the attack).

Kelly leaned over towards him from her neighboring desk and placed her recently pedicured hand on his arm and tried to meet his eyes, “Are you okay?”

Ryan tried to ignore her, he really didn’t want to deal with other people right now. Being in a public space was bad enough, plus he didn’t want another detention for talking. He tried the counting exercises his friend Jonah had taught him in San Diego  _ (one, two, three, four, five, inhale, six, seven, eight, nine ten, exhale.) _ Kelly wasn’t backing down though. She started shaking his arm, jostling his ribs. He pulled the arm away from her, and dug his fingers into the arm deeper, trying to manage the pain. Mr. Vickers was starting to eye him with his normal disgust, especially at the sight of Kelly on his arm (the man was both sexist and racist), and Ryan could tell he was looking for a reason to punish either of them. He further blocked out Kelly and pretended to be invested in the daily announcements. That only seemed to further Kelly’s annoyance and she said, barely even bothering to whisper, “Ryan”

He stared at the bulletin.

“Ryan!” ( _ one, two, three, four, five, inhale, six, seven, eight, nine ten, exhale) _

She poked at him with her pencil, “Ryan?”

Vickers pounced, “Detention Ms. Kapoor, Mr. Howard”

Ryan dug in his nails further. He hadn’t even done anything. 

Kelly’s attention at least was diverted from him, as she focused instead on outrage, “What! Why?” (she knew perfectly well) “All I was doing was asking him for a pencil” (Ryan resisted the urge to roll his eyes).

The bell rang, “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, Ms. Kapoor. You as well, Mr. Howard”

Ryan just stiffly got up and tried to avoid bumping into the other rising students. Today was going marvelously.

* * *

At lunch, Kelly came up to him looking cross. His bad day had gotten worse over the course of English, Gym, and Algebra (he’d gotten another detention for not participating in gym because he claimed a knee injury was acting up, but didn’t have the necessary note to sit out. It probably would’ve slid if he hadn’t also refused to change into gym clothes) and he really didn’t want to deal with her. He stared instead at his sandwich. He knew he definitely wasn’t getting an invite to her table today judged on the looks the whole table was giving him. Of course she’d told them all about how he’d slighted her.

Kelly made a big show about it. Her angry walk was overdone, and when she slammed her arms down and shoved her face inches from his, an outraged expression on her face, he struggled to keep from laughing. When she slammed her hands against the table and shouted, “Look at me, Ryan Howard!” he bit his lip to try and keep a facade of seriousness. Nonetheless he met her gaze. He could tell she was enjoying this, “You were a real jerk today. I was just trying to be nice. I’ve been nothing but nice to you since you got here, and you just ignore me and take me for granted. I just wanted to be your friend! Well not anymore! You can go find somebody else to try those puppy dog eyes on.”

He felt his eyebrows raise at the last sentence, and watched as she pulled away. Some of his mirth faded however, when he saw that there was some genuine hurt in her expression. He knew that Kelly loved drama, but thinking back, knew there was some truth to her words. He felt guilty. Not only that, he really had enjoyed her company. Her drama could be a bit much, and her ambition to reach the top of the social ladder was a mystery to him, but she was probably his only friend, and she had only been trying to ask if he was alright. Now having pulled back completely, she turned on her heel and started on her way back to her table, “Kelly, wait” he heard a voice say. It was only when she turned that he realized it was his. She looked at him expectantly, maybe some hope on her face, and he felt his pride come back to him. He knew the right thing to do was apologize, but that would be admitting that what had happened was his fault and it wasn’t. Of course it wasn’t. It was Kelly’s for poking him and talking to him while he was in the middle of an anxiety attack and jostling his ribs and getting him detention which was probably going to get him beaten at home ( _ don’t think about that right now _ ). Despite all that, he still choked out the words “I’m sorry”. He could lose some pride and self-respect to keep his only friend. 

Her mouth quirked upwards into a smile, “All’s forgiven.” she said, and came back towards him, “Wanna sit at the table?”

Ryan stared at her, “Just like that?”. He was flabbergasted at the forgiveness, especially the speed of it. He supposed that in Kelly’s fast paced world of gossip and drama, one couldn’t be hung up on one piece of scandal for too long. A smaller piece of him maybe liked to think she was just a kind person who trusted him (he shoved that notion far away, as it was too foreign a concept for him to even consider). 

She smiled at him, “Just like that.”

* * *

Kelly asked at the end of lunch if he wanted to go to the movies after school with the recent release of  _ Thor: Ragnarok _ and he agreed. He liked her company, and while not the biggest fan of Marvel, would sit through it to gain some trust back (he still wasn’t believing that she’d forgiven him as quickly as she’d claimed). 

They met up after the final bell had rung and decided to walk to the theatre as it was only a few blocks away, though Kelly complained of the cold. Unsure of what to do, he’d asked if she’d brought a coat and when she said no, he’d said awkwardly that she should’ve (she’d shot him a look at that). Despite that initial bad omen, upon entering the theatre, things went well. Having grown up in San Diego, he’d never really been in a non franchise theatre, and the place, owned by Devons’ parents, had some charm. 

They ordered some overpriced popcorn and skittles (all bought by Kelly when he’d awkwardly admitted as to not having any money. Even if he had, he’d probably spend it on concealer instead) and settled into their seats near the back of the movie theatre. Ryan was a bit grumpy about the chairs, which weren’t being kind to his ribs, but Kelly and the film mostly distracted him. The movie was admittedly better than he expected, and he appreciated the comedy after a long day. His previous experience with Marvel being limited to the first Captain America, he decided to give the franchise a second chance after the end of it. Kelly helpfully explained all the continuity stuff that confused him and spoke dreamily about Chris Hemsworth and the fictional character of Loki.

Midway through the film, Ryan nearly jumped out of his seat when Kelly, unannounced, laid her head on his shoulder. He stared at her as she did it, and felt his brain implode on itself as it tried to get what was going on and what to do next. He used his free arm to pat her head and cringed, instantly knowing that it was the wrong move. He didn’t try to do anything again, and let Kelly be. He tried to stay as still as possible through the movie so as not to disturb her, which actually benefited his ribs, and his stiff posture helped somewhat as well. 

After the mid credits scene, Kelly simply pulled her head from his shoulder, and got up, smiling, leaving the trash in her seat. Ryan stared at her for a second, brain still struggling to understand what’d happened. It was only more confused by the way she was acting like it was nothing. He finally got to his own feet, trying his best to hide the pain he got from doing so. He and Kelly made their way out of the theatre and she started gushing about Loki, who she claimed she was in love with. He didn’t know how to really participate in the conversation so chose to just say “uh huh” every now and then, which Kelly seemed content with. As she moved topics to Chris Hemsworths’ brother Liam and Miley Cyrus he thoughtlessly turned his phones’ notifications back on and started browsing through what he’d missed. He felt an almost gut punch when he realized all of his texts were from one number and stopped in his tracks to quickly look through them.

Kelly kept walking for a short time but quickly noticed he wasn’t moving with her and saw Ryans’ expression. “Ryan, are you okay?” she asked in concern.

His eyes were glued to the phone screen and didn’t respond. Worry and annoyance growing, she walked over and tried to glimpse what he was staring at but he shut the phone off before she had a chance. She frowned in frustration. 

“I-I gotta go.” Ryan mumbled.

“What?” Kelly asked, not having made out what he said.

“I have to go.” Ryan said with more conviction, and took off at an almost jog despite his ribs. His father's texts rang in his head. How could he have been so stupid? So negligent?

“Hey!” Kelly shouted and started coming after him, but had a hard time in high heels, “Ryan? You can’t leave like that!”

He ignored her.


	6. Observation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kelly considers Ryan's actions

_ November 18, 2017 - Kelly (Wednesday) _

Kelly was worrying a lot lately, and she didn’t like it. It wasn’t a good feeling, and it definitely wasn't good for her skin. She did not want worry lines from Ryan Howard, but here she was. The guy was really frustrating her. The hard to get thing had been cute for the first week or two, but it’d been a month and she was getting sick of it. Not to mention the fact that he’d literally left her out in the cold yesterday. She’d forgiven him earlier that day for brushing her off and thought he was actually going to try and put some effort into their friendship but  _ no _ , not Ryan Howard. She’d been nothing but kind and concerned, asking if he was okay, and he just ignored her and got her detention. Then she forgave him and invited him to the movies with her and he just ran off the moment they got out after reading his phone. What was so important that he had to ditch her? Needless to say she was feeling bitter. She told Becca, Charlotte, Katy, and Meredith all about it and they all mutually decided to give him the collective cold shoulder. Well, she Becca, Charlotte, and Katy had, Meredith was hungover enough that she just agreed with whatever anyone said. 

Despite that, Kelly couldn’t help but worry. She’d seen the way shifting in his seat had hurt Ryan, and the way he dug his fingers into his arms throughout homeroom. Believe it or not, she could be pretty observant when she wanted to, how else did you expect her to deduce that Daryl and Val had hooked up during second period? The key to gossip was observation. The key to popularity was observation. The key to people was observation. And she’d seen the way Ryans’ face had paled at the theatre before he ran off. She saw the look on his face. She got the impression something bad had happened, maybe a family member had died or something with his gang had happened (she knew the former was more likely but she was still holding on to the gang fantasy. You couldn’t blame her okay? Just imagine Ryan in leather pants…). The first theory seemed more and more likely with Ryan’s absence that day. She had the whole day to stew on her conflicting feelings about the whole thing. On the one hand, he’d been an absolute asshole to her, but on the other, he’d apologized and probably had a valid reason for his behavior yesterday. Probably. 

She decided during fourth period, tapping her pencil mindlessly against her desk, deep in thought as she tuned Mr. Hasagawa out, that she’d talk to him. She’d give him the benefit of the doubt. She took a moment to pat herself on the back for her generosity. 

She was irritated when she had to sit through detention alone.

* * *

_ November 19, 2017 - Kelly (Thursday) _

Ryan showed up the next day looking like death warmed over. She saw him take ibuprofen during lunch and with the way he carried himself, she figured he was still in pain. She wasn’t sure why he was hiding it but figured if it was gang related then he’d probably want to keep in on the low. Learning her lesson from earlier in the week, she didn’t try to talk to him during homeroom but waited until lunch. She made her way over to his usual empty table despite Becca and Charlottes’ protests and sat down across from him.

She crossed her arms on the table and did her best angry face as she tried to catch his eye (but he was much more interested in his sandwich than her). Eventually giving up on making eye contact, Kelly started her speech, “You’d better have a good reason for leaving me in the cold on Tuesday.”

No response from him. Kelly huffed and continued, “You apologized for ignoring me and being an asshole, but then not five hours later you do it again. I broke my favorite pair of high heels running after you!”

Ryan mumbled something. Annoyed at the guy’s inability to speak clearly, Kelly told him to speak up. “Sorry” he said with a hint of irritation. 

Kelly was not going to put up with his attitude today, he’d done  _ her _ wrong, not the opposite, “Don’t give me an apology if you don’t mean it. And if you don’t you could at least put a little effort into making it sound genuine. Why are you even mad at me? I didn’t do anything to you.  _ You  _ left  _ me  _ out in the cold asshole.”

Ryan got up from his seat and started walking away. Kelly watched him in disbelief, “Seriously? You’re an asshole, Ryan!”

He ignored her and Kelly bit down the urge to chase after him. He wasn’t worth it. She should’ve gone with the original plan of silent treatment. This was what she got for being nice. Humiliation. God, it was going to take weeks to recover her public image from this.

Moodily she walked back to her table, Charlotte telling her “I told you so” before she even had the chance to sit down. Sulking, she ignored her and instead focused on the gossip Becca had about Roy and Pam of all people.

“They’re  _ dating, _ ” Becca said dramatically, to the gasp of much of the table.

Kelly raised a skeptical eyebrow, glad for the distraction, “Roy and Pam?”

“I  _ know, _ ” Becca said.

“I thought he was dating Olivia.” Katy chimed in. Kelly rolled her eyes, “That’s old news Katy, they broke up last week.”

“He’s such a player.” Charlotte said, looking at the guys table dreamily, looking jealous at the sight of Pam there, Roys’ arm around her.

A snoring came from Kellys’ right and she wrinkled her nose at the sight of a sleeping Meredith, drool all across the table.


End file.
